The New York Stock Exchange is in talks to buy the tiny Chicago Stock Exchange, after the recent collapse of a two-year acquisition effort by a Chinese-led investor group, people familiar with the situation said.
The talks could still fall apart. An acquisition by the NYSE, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc. ICE, +1.50% would end the independence of the last U.S. regional stock exchange, which handles less than 1% of U.S. stock-trading volume. Instead of becoming a potential outpost for Chinese firms seeking to raise money from U.S. investors, the Chicago market would be swallowed by the country’s best-known exchange operator, which is well positioned to win regulatory approval.
Spokesmen for the NYSE and for the Chicago exchange’s parent company, CHX Holdings Inc. , declined to comment.
An expanded version of this article appears at WSJ.com
Popular at WSJ